Photos: Separated by war, Korean families to reunite briefly after 65 years

Aug 20, 2018 10:24 IST

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Lee Soo-nam, 76, shows photos of his family members at his home in Seoul, South Korea. Lee is among about 200 war-separated South Koreans and their family members who are crossing into North Korea for heart-wrenching meetings with relatives torn apart by the 1950-53 Korean War they haven’t seen for decades. (Ahn Young-joon / AP)

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Lee Soo-nam arranges gifts for family members of his brother Ri Jong Song in North Korea. The families will be temporarily reunited in North Korea starting Monday after the two Koreas renewed exchanges this year following a standoff over Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programmes. (Ahn Young-joon / AP)

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Kim Kwang-ho, 79, speaks in front of some gifts for his family members in North Korea during an interview at his home in Seoul. The reunions, the first in three years, will take place in the North’s tourist resort on Mount Kumgang, as agreed by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in during their first summit in April. (Ahn Young-joon / AP)

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South Korean Baek sung-kuy, 101 (C), the oldest participant, arrives for a reunion with his North Korean family members in Sokcho, South Korea. The separated families are victims of a decades-long standoff between the neighbours, which has escalated over the past several years as Pyongyang rapidly advanced its nuclear weapons and missile programmes. (Korea Pool / Yonhap via AP)

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A man who has been selected as a participant for a reunion reacts as he arrives at a hotel used as a waiting place in Sokcho. More than 57,000 South Korean survivors have registered for a brief family reunion, which lasts only 11 hours and often ends in painful farewells. (Kim Hong-Ji / REUTERS)

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A man selected as a participant for a reunion shows pictures of his deceased mother and little brothers living in North Korea. South Korean family members arrived at the coastal border city of Sokcho on Sunday to be briefed by officials on the reunion and for a brief health check-up, before crossing the border on Monday. (Kim Hong-Ji / REUTERS)

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A woman selected as a participant for a reunion arrives in Sokcho, South Korea. Ninety-three families from both sides of the border were initially scheduled for a three-day gathering from Monday, but four South Korean members cancelled their trip to the North at the last minute due to health conditions, the Red Cross said. (Kim Hong-Ji / REUTERS)

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Starting Thursday, there will be a meeting of another 88 groups of relatives, according to Seoul’s Unification Ministry. The brief family reunions, which began in 1985, can be a traumatic experience for the aging survivors, they say. And time is running out, with many of them aged 80 or older. (Kim Hong-Ji / REUTERS)

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Moon Hyun-sook who has been selected as a participant for a reunion rests at a hotel in Sokcho. Around 132,600 individuals are listed as separated families as of end-July. Of the 57,000 survivors, 41.2% are in their 80s and 21.4% are in their 90s, according to government data. (Kim Hong-Ji / REUTERS)

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Yoon Heung-kyu, 91, speaks about his family members in North Korea during an interview at his office in Seoul. Many of the family members brought gifts for their North Korean relatives. Socks, underwear, basic winter jackets, medicine, toothpastes and food are the most common items, with gifts deemed too extravagant unlikely to pass muster with Pyongyang authorities. (Ahn Young-joon / AP)

about the gallery

Dozens of elderly and frail South Koreans gathered excitedly on the eve of their first meeting for nearly seven decades with family members in North Korea separated by the Korean War. The three-day reunion -- the first for three years, and an emotionally charged experience -- begins today and is scheduled to be held at the Mount Kumgang resort in North Korea, following a rapid diplomatic thaw on the peninsula after this year’s inter Korean summit. Nearly two hundred elderly South Koreans and family members will form the first group crossing over to the North bearing gifts and memories.